[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee
of the Township of Woolwich 4-21-1997 by Ord. No. 97-12. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to establish
regulations concerning the operation and maintenance of certain alarm
systems within the Township of Woolwich and to provide penalties upon
conviction for violations of any of the provisions set forth herein.
For the purpose of this chapter, certain words
and phrases are defined as follows:
Any mechanical, electrical or electronic device which is
designed or used for the detection of an unauthorized entry into a
building, structure or facility or for alerting others about the commission
of an unlawful act in a building, structure or facility or for alerting
others about the existence of any other condition requiring response
of police, fire or ambulance personnel.
The activation of an alarm where an emergency does not exist
or an alarm activated by inadvertence, negligence or an unintentional
or intentional act of someone other than an intruder, and shall include
alarms caused by malfunctioning of the alarm, device, alarm system
or its related equipment. The term "false alarm" shall not include
alarms created by malfunctioning of the Police Department alarm console
or other Police Department equipment or activations caused by public
utility interruptions, where such interruptions have been reported
to the police, or activations caused by natural disaster or activations
caused by testing or repair of any alarm system or device.
Any one or more units of the Woolwich Volunteer Fire Companies.
[Amended 6-3-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-07]
Woolwich Police Department.
Township of Woolwich, County of Gloucester and State of New
Jersey.
A.
It shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities,
firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm systems within
the township to provide current information to the police, consisting
of the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may
be contacted in case of emergency or who are authorized to provide
services to the alarm systems. This information is to be filed with
the Woolwich Police Department when the alarm system is initially
placed into service and must be revised immediately whenever changes
are necessary. Likewise, it shall be the responsibility of all persons,
entities, firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm
systems within the township to provide current information to the
Bureau of Fire Safety of the Township of Woolwich, which includes
the names and telephone numbers of responsible persons who may be
contacted in the case of emergency or who are authorized to provide
services to the alarm systems.
B.
It shall be a violation of this section for each occasion
when the police, fire or ambulance are required to respond to a false
alarm as defined herein.
C.
It shall be the responsibility of all persons, entities,
firms, corporations or other groups that maintain alarm systems within
the township to prevent the transmission of false alarms through a
program of training and periodic inspection and maintenance of their
respective alarm system.
D.
This chapter may be enforced by the Police Department
of the Township of Woolwich and/or the Fire Official of the Township
of Woolwich.
A.
For any false alarm, the following
penalties shall be applied, whether by the Woolwich Township Police
Department (burglary/emergency) or the Gloucester County Fire Marshall's
Office (fire).
[Amended 6-3-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-07]
(1)
On the third false alarm in any
given calendar year, a warning shall be issued by the Fire Official
(fire) or Police Department (burglary/emergency) through a letter
or electronic notification process to the owner and/or tenant of the
premises on which the false alarm was sounded.
(2)
For the fourth false alarm in the same calendar year,
a fine of $50 shall be paid to the Township of Woolwich.
(3)
For a fifth false alarm in the same calendar year,
a fine of $100 shall be paid to the Township of Woolwich.
B.
Any person, entity, firm, corporation or other group
that is found guilty of violating any of the other provisions of this
chapter or guilty of a sixth or more false alarms in the same calendar
year shall be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000. This chapter
shall be enforceable in the Municipal Court of the Township of Woolwich.
The provision of this chapter shall not apply
to the General Alerting Alarms that may be used by fire companies,
ambulance squads or civil defense agencies to summon response of their
members. The provisions of this chapter further shall not apply to
alarm systems that are affixed to motor vehicles such as police, ambulance
and/or fire vehicles.
The provisions contained herein shall apply
equally to those alarm systems that were placed in service prior to
or subsequent to the effective date of this chapter. Existing alarm
owners shall have 60 days from the effective date of this chapter
to register such alarm devices with the Woolwich Police Department
in accordance with this chapter.
